Mitomycin

Mitomycin is used to treat cancer of the stomach or pancreas that has spread to other parts of the body. It slows or stops the growth of cancer cells in the body.

Mitomycin Overview

Updated: November 17, 2015

Mitomycin is a prescription medication used to treat cancer of the stomach or pancreas that has spread to other parts of the body and has not improved with other medications, surgery, or radiation therapy. It should only be used in combination with other medications and is not generally effective as single-agent treatment for cancer.

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Mitomycin Cautionary Labels

Uses of Mitomycin

This medication may be prescribed for other uses. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.

Injectable:

Mitomycin is a prescription medication used to treat cancer of the stomach or pancreas that has spread to other parts of the body and has not improved with other medications, surgery, or radiation therapy. It should only be used in combination with other medications and is not effective as single-agent treatment for cancer.

Mitomycin Interactions

Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, including prescription and non-prescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Especially tell your doctor if you take or have ever taken doxorubicin (Adriamycin, Rubex).

This is not a complete list of mitomycin drug interactions. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.

Mitomycin Precautions

Serious side effects have been reported with mitomycin for the eyes including the following:

damage to the cornea

increased pressure inside the eye

loss of vision

Injectable:

Serious side effects have been reported with mitomycin for injection including the following:

bone marrow toxicity. Decreased function of the bone marrow leads to decreased production of immune, oxygen-carrying, and clot-forming cells. This can lead to life-threatening infections, severe anemia, and spontaneous bleeding. Your healthcare provider should routinely check your blood cell counts while you are receiving mitomycin.

hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). HUS is a serious complication of chemotherapy that causes hemolytic anemia, decreased blood cell counts, and irreversible kidney damage. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have some or all of the following symptoms of HUS:

extreme shortness or breath or difficult breathing

wheezing or gasping for breath

rapid or irregular heartbeat

increased blood pressure

changes in mental status or altered levels of consciousness

Mitomycin can also cause blurred vision and drowsiness. Do not drive or operate heavy machinery until you know how mitcomycin affects you.

Do not take mitomycin if you:

are allergic to mitomycin or to any of its ingredients

are pregnant or breastfeeding

have blood clotting disorders or an increased risk of bleeding

Mitomycin Food Interactions

Medications can interact with certain foods. In some cases, this may be harmful and your doctor may advise you to avoid certain foods. In the case of mitomycin, there are no specific foods that you must exclude from your diet when receiving this medication.

Mitomycin and Pregnancy

The FDA categorizes medications based on safety for use during pregnancy. Five categories - A, B, C, D, and X - are used to classify the possible risks to an unborn baby when a medication is taken during pregnancy.

Mitomycin falls into category X. It has been shown that women taking mitomycin during pregnancy may have babies born with problems. There are no situations where the benefits of the medication for the mother outweigh the risks of harm to the baby. These medicines should never be used by pregnant women.

Mitomycin and Lactation

It is not known if mitomycin crosses into human milk. Because many medications can cross into human milk and because of the possibility for serious adverse reactions in nursing infants with use of this medication, it is recommended that women stop nursing when receiving mitomycin.

Mitomycin FDA Warning

Mitomycin should be administered under the supervision of a qualified physician experienced in the use of cancer chemotherapeutic agents. Appropriate management of therapy and complications is possible only when adequate diagnostic and treatment facilities are readily available.

Bone marrow suppression, notably thrombocytopenia and leukopenia, which may contribute to overwhelming infections in an already compromised patient, is the most common and severe of the toxic effects of mitomycin.

Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) a serious complication of chemotherapy, consisting primarily of microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, and irreversible renal failure has been reported in patients receiving systemic mitomycin. The syndrome may occur at any time during systemic therapy with mitomycin as a single agent or in combination with other cytotoxic drugs, however, most cases occur at doses ≥60 mg of mitomycin. Blood product transfusion may exacerbate the symptoms associated with this syndrome.

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